3 moves LA Rams must make following 2022 NFL Draft

Must-Do III: Add another QB

It’s pretty clear that the LA Rams have placed their future into the hands of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. Hey, it all worked out during the 2021 NFL season, so why should anyone complain about that obviously successful arrangement? Well, to put it brutally honest, the LA Rams are flirting with disaster.

I know that some fans are quite passionate about backup quarterback John Wolford, and any attempt to point out the limits of his abilities in the pocket will fall on deaf ears. I also know that other fans are just as passionate about backup quarterback Bryce Perkins, and any attempt to point out the limits of his NFL experience will fall on equally deaf ears.

But there is a pragmatic problem with the quarterback room only having three players when you size up the demands of the off-season. For example, who will play for the LA Rams in preseason games? We know that the Rams love to give the starters time off in the three remaining preseason games and that in the 2022 NFL season, the Rams benched John Wolford (to his detriment) during the preseason games.

That forced the Rams to pit quarterback Devlin Hodges, a.k.a. Duck, against Bryce Perkins in open competition for the QB3 role last year. In fact, the Rams have entered training camp with four quarterbacks for years, specifically to allow enough passers to run all of the necessary drills to wide receivers, tight ends, running backs, and defensive backs, simultaneously.

So it’s not with the intention to get rid of any existing quarterback who fans passionately defend, despite the evidence that should concern each of us. The LA Rams run a pocket passer offense and have less accurate mobile quarterbacks backing him up. Matthew Stafford is a valuable player, and he could be mentoring young pocket passer quarterbacks in ways to improve their game. Only, the Rams have no younger quarterbacks within earshot to learn from him.

That is just cozy and comfortable in the spring and summer when football is shorts, sneakers, tee shirts, and no contact. But when the pads go one, and the team is suddenly fighting for a playoff spot? I think more than just myself will have wished for a young pocket passer to learn from Stafford.

The LA Rams won without DB Jalen Ramsey on the football field in Week 14 last year. If anything happens to Matthew Stafford this season? I don’t know that I have confidence in this team’s ability to win with their current backups.